What I love about different types of planners

My problem is, I love ALL the planners! That's why I have such a hard time choosing just one to use. Each type is great, for different reasons. Here's what I love about them.

What I love about...Filofax personal size binders

My personal size Filofax binders

(Across the top: pink Finsbury that matches my wallet, purple Finsbury, Aqua Finsbury, Chili Cuban (shown in this video). Bottom from left: Orchid Aston, Kendal (also shown in this video), Holborn zip in Wine, Ivory Deco, and my beloved black Buckingham.)

A personal size ring binder was the planner that got me started on my planner journey. A few years later I bought my first real Filofax, the black Buckingham at the right. And the rest is history, as they say!

I always tend to go back to a personal size Filofax in times of crisis or transition, and I've finally figured out why. I can have everything I need inside the binder, for grab-and-go efficiency. I've used a personal size Filofax in emergency situations and while living in places where I might have to get on an airplane to evacuate at any moment. When I have everything I need in my carry-everywhere Filofax, I'm ready for anything at all.

What I love about...A5 / Classic / Desk size binders 

My A5 Filofaxes, Success Choice and Daytimer Malibu binders

(My A5 Filofax Finsbury binders and Domino on top, bottom left Success Choice binder, A5 Boston Filofax, and Daytimer Desk size Malibu that arrived today from Terri! Thanks Terri!!)

A5 (and similar) size binders are great because you can put A5 / 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inch pages in them, any brand or style you want. You can fold a full size page and put it in. You can print pages easily, punch them and put them in. You can even cut up a bound planner, punch the pages and pop them into your binder. This is the easiest size to customize because the paper is standard size. I wish the binders weren't so big and heavy, because I would love to use this as my everything-in-one book!

What I love about...bound weekly planners

Some of my 2014 weekly planners

(Across the top are my Plannerisms planners. Bottom starting from left: Quo Vadis Space 24 planner, some Paperblanks planners, Brush Dance datebooks.)

Of course I love weekly planners--I designed one! I love bound weekly planners because they give you maximum planning in the slimmest and lightest book. A binder with an equivalent page size will be bulkier and heavier than a bound weekly book.

I also love the variety possible with weekly planners--formats, extra features, other content, designs, quotes--the possibilities are endless, which makes them fun!

What I love about...day per page diaries

My 2014 day per page diaries

(Left to right my Journal 21, Daily 17, Large Green daily Moleskine like I used as my journal for years, Pocket Purple daily Moleskine like I used successfully for a couple of years, A6 Hobonichi planner, A5 Hobonichi Cousin, and this year's version of the Time Traveler diary I used and loved last year.)

I've had a special place in my heart for day per page diaries ever since I saw my sister's Textagenda all those years ago. My favorite planner I've ever used is a day per page diary. And last year I finally had journaling success with an A5 day per page diary after years of not being able to get into the habit.

There's just something about day per page diaries I love. I find the chunkiness of day per page books aesthetically pleasing. I love the amount of recording possible on the large daily pages, and I love the idea of having my entire year permanently recorded in one archival book. I can't effectively plan ahead in them, but day per page diaries are great record books.

2014 Moleskine large and pocket size day per page diaires

What are your favorite types of planners? Or like me do you enjoy different types of planners for different reasons?

Hobonichi A5 Cousin: Monthly, Weekly AND Daily planner!!!!

For years and years readers have been asking me if I know of a planner that has months, weeks AND day per page planners in one book. I didn't, until now! Behold, the Hobonichi Techo Cousin!

The Cousin is the A5 version of the Hobonichi A6 size planner I reviewed last week, but it has something the A6 version doesn't have: week pages! More on that in a mo. First some general info.

First let me thank Hobonichi for sending me this planner as a sample to review. The Cousin has a stiff card cover, and you can buy a variety of covers for it. Because it is a true A5 size, any cover that fits an A5 day per page diary will fit this book too.

Size comparison: below you can see the Hobonichi (middle) next to a large Moleskine (green) and an A5 diary (red). I inadvertently made an Italian flag here! A5 measures about 8 1/4 inches tall and almost 6 inches wide.

Below you can see the size comparison between the A5 Cousin and the A6 Hobonichi planner I reviewed before.

They also kindly included this very pretty blue cover! There are two pen loops, designed for you to slide your pen through both loops to hold the book shut.

Inside the cover is an excellent pocket configuration, plus two placemarkers.

The back cover has a full length slot pocket.

Here is the inside front cover with several card pockets and a full-length pocket behind:

Inside the back cover is another pocket:

So let me take you for a walk through the book.  The Cousin is mostly in Japanese, but that doesn't diminish the functionality of this planner for non-Japanese speakers.

First are reference calendars:

Next are months-as-columns planning pages. The months are numeric so you don't need to read Japanese to use these pages.

Next are month on two pages calendars, again numeric with days of the week in English.

There is space at the left of the month for lists and notes, and space below the month which is a great place to write recurring events.

Next are weekly pages! The days are vertical columns, timed 6 am to midnight!

At the left there is a column for lists and a month calendar with the current week circled.

There is also space at the tops of the daily columns with checkboxes for reminders, and space below the daily columns for more lists or notes.

Next comes the day per page section. Every day, including Saturday and Sunday, has its own full page!

The daily pages have a timed schedule at the left (6 am to 3 am), five checkboxes at the top of the page for reminders, and a 4 mm grid for maximum writing on the page. The days and months are numeric, and the days of the week are in Japanese. So you could either learn the Japanese for the days of the week, which is fun, or just write the days.

There are quotes in Japanese at the bottom of the pages, and the current month calendar with the days in view circled.

At the edge of the daily pages are month indicators so you can easily find the month you are looking for. Also each month has a different background color.

After the daily pages there are 3 grid pages for notes.

Next are pages for anniversaries, and international dialing codes:

Graph paper and time table pages:

Pages to record your Favorites:

These pages are in Japanese but the left page looks like conversions and the right maybe Japanese postal rates?

I don't know what these pages say, but I like the pictures!

Next are pages for Gifts and Addresses:

The last page is Personal Notes:

The back page has the Hobonichi websites:

Despite having all these pages, the Cousin is no thicker than a usual A5 day per page diary because the Tomoe River paper is so thin:

Along with the Cousin came an informational paper that I can't read but you can see here:

The book lays open completely flat, the paper is smooth and strong. This planner is an excellent option for someone who wants monthly, weekly and daily pages in one portable book!

The Hobonichi Cousin ordering page is in Japanese, but it's completely easy to order. Click here for the simple instructional page. All you have to do is click to add the products to your cart, then you can select English for the rest of the ordering process.

This is the January-December version of the Cousin, which is still available while supplies last. Right now the Spring version of the Cousin is available, which starts in April. Be sure to check out their selection of covers to fit this planner too! If there is a price listed under the cover, it is still available. Covers without a price under are already sold out.

Many thanks again to Hobinichi for this excellent planner and cover! I'm very happy to review it and I can highly recommend it.

Free For All Friday No. 23: Does how much money you spent on your planner affect how you use it?

I bought my first real Filofax, a personal Buckingham, in 2001 at TJ Maxx for $25. I didn't realize at the time what a huge bargain I got. At full price it probably went for over $100. The smooth Italian leather was exquisite, and even now the rings are still solid and tight.

But because I'd only spent 25 bucks on it, I wasn't precious with it at all.  I threw it in my bag, I handled it with dirty/ sunscreen-covered hands, I took it all around the world with me and never worried about it. It wasn't until years later, when it had extreme sentimental value to me after years of loyal companionship, that I started to get precious with it. (And ironically, semi-retirement on the shelf next to a Filofax Domino with the strap rubbing the leather caused far more damage than my years of use ever did!)

But I digress. My point is, if I had spent more than $100 on my Filofax, I would have been far more delicate with it, and would not have used it the way I did while traveling, moving, and generally roughly.

Ideally we shouldn't be afraid to use our planners no matter the cost. One of my Great Planner Truths is: The More You Use It, The More Useful It Is. And if we are too afraid to use our planner, it won't be very useful to us. But it is human nature to be delicate with expensive things.

Do you find yourself being delicate with an expensive planner and perhaps using it less than you would use a less expensive one? Or are you determined to get your money's worth from your planner even if it means some dings and scratches?

And as always on Fridays, feel free to discuss anything planner-related!

2014 Hobonichi Planner (English version) review!

Finally, here is my Hobonichi review! Sorry for the delay.

So. The Hobonichi planner. You've probably seen these online a lot in recent months. The Japanese Hobonichi Techo planner has been extremely popular in Japan for more than a decade. They made an English version for 2013 which proved popular, but non-Japanese speaking folks had a hard time ordering from the Japanese website. That was remedied by Lindsay, their brilliant and wonderful translator. Now the English website is clear and easy to use!

I ordered my Hobonichi English planner and cover on the website linked above. Big heads-up to UK folks: be prepared to pay more than 20 pounds in import fees and VAT. For some reason I didn't have to pay (luck I guess?), but friends of mine who have ordered more than the 15 GBP value threshold have had to pay the fees. You can see more info on this website.

You can convert the Japanese yen to your currency on XE.com or similar conversion websites to see approximately what you'll be paying, but keep in mind the actual conversion rate is determined by your credit card company when you order.

To be honest, I wasn't going to order a Hobonichi planner. The planner + cover + shipping for my order cost the equivalent of more than $60 USD/ 38 GBP, which is more than I usually spend on a planner that is purely experimental for me. But the more I looked at websites online, the more I wanted one. Hobonichi fans are very enthusiastic and have a sort of combination of the creative uses that you see on Moleskine websites and the personalization of different covers that Filofax fans have. In the end, curiosity won and I caved and ordered one.

There are lots of excellent reviews online already of the 2014 Hobonichi planner, and I'm not going to try to duplicate those. In particular check out Well Appointed Desk's review for excellent photos, and information on how the paper performs with fountain pen inks. (I don't own any fountain pens so I can't help you there.)

Mainly I want to answer questions I've seen online, especially about the size. US folks in particular are not usually familiar with this size, which is A6. That's just under 6 inches tall and about 4 1/4 inches wide. Lots of people have been surprised at how small the planner is, so I will show you some comparison photos.

Here is the Hobonichi planner as it comes, without an optional cover on. The black textured cover can certainly be used without another cover on it.

Below you can see the Hobonichi planner between a large Moleskine (green) and a pocket Moleskine (purple). As you can see, it's about the same height and slightly wider than the pocket Moleskine.

Below you can see the Hobonichi planner next to a US standard letter size piece of paper (8 1/2 by 11 inches).

The Hobonichi's A6 size is very portable, and easy to carry with you everywhere.

Below is the cover I chose, the I'll listen to you anytime, says the Donkey cover:

I chose this cover because at the time I ordered it was the only cheaper cover left, at 1900 Yen (approximately $19 USD).

I really like this cover, it's colorful and fun. The design is by a children's author.

The interior has an excellent pocket layout, and two placemarkers to mark your current month and day.

So let me show you some interior photos. First of all I want to apologize for the quality of the photos, it's hard to get good light this time of year!

The diary is one page per day, with a 4 mm grid pattern. 

Some of my photos don't accurately represent the color of the paper. Here is a comparison of the Hobonichi paper with Moleskine's ivory paper (left) and Clairefontaine bright white (at right). As you can see it's just off white. Also you can see the 4 mm grid compared to the 6 mm ruling of the Moleskine. (Click on any of the photos for a larger view.)

I'll take you for a walk through the book to show you the features. The first two pages are reference calendars:

Next are months as columns:

Then monthly calendars with each month on a two-page spread:

The monthly calendars have space at the side for lists and reminders, and space below the month which is a convenient place to write recurring events.

Next comes the day per page diary section. I didn't show December 2013, which has two days per page so you can get started early. Each page has the phase of the moon at the top. Sundays are in red, and there is a quote at the bottom of each two-page spread.

Something I want to point out about the moon phases: they are in Japanese time. Below is a good example (click the photo for a larger view): the New Moon was on Friday the 31st of January in Japan, but the Moleskine diary behind shows the new moon at 21:39 GMT which falls on Thursday. Just something to be aware of if the moon phases matter to you, especially for US folks because the moon phases will be the day before in the US.

At the side of the daily pages are shaded areas indicating the month, so you can find the month you are looking for easily. There is also a month calendar with the days in view circled.

After the daily pages there are several pages with a red 4 mm dot grid for notes.

At the back of the book are several pages of content with a guide to sushi and sake, using chopsticks, and tea around the world:

Here is another view of the front and back of my cover:

The back of the cover has a full-length outside pocket.

I also bought the Tartan cover from Tracy, it has a nice rough-fabric feel to it:

There are lots of places to look online for more info on the Hobonichi planner and different ways people use theirs. Their Facebook page has lots of good photos of use, as do the Tumblr page and Flickr. Lindsay has an unofficial guide to the Hobonichi, and you can see more info about the making of the planner in this interview with its creator.

The Hobonichi planner ordering website sells out of covers quickly, so if you like a particular cover be sure to buy it quick!

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about the 2014 Hobonichi planner, and I'll be happy to answer!

Be sure to check out my post Monday: my review of the A5 size Hobonichi Cousin planner which has monthly, weekly AND daily pages!!!